PG&E files for bankruptcy amid wildfire lawsuits

[TexasTowelie]

Source: AP

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The largest utility in the U.S., Pacific Gas & Electric Corp., filed for bankruptcy Tuesday as it faces billions of dollars in potential damages from wildfires in California.

The utility filed documents in a U.S. court seeking Chapter 11 reorganization despite state investigators determining last week that its equipment was not to blame for a 2017 fire that killed 22 people in Northern California wine country.

The company cited hundreds of lawsuits from victims of that blaze and others in 2017 and 2018 when it announced this month that it planned to file for bankruptcy. The fires included the nation's deadliest in a century — a November blaze that killed at least 86 people and destroyed 15,000 homes in Paradise and surrounding communities.

The cause of that fire remains under investigation, but speculation has centered on PG&E after the utility reported power line problems nearby around the time it started.

Read more: https://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/us_news/pg-e-files-for-bankruptcy-amid-wildfire-lawsuits/article_4dc07ddc-7ece-59fd-a973-d7d601451b3f.html

[Pachamama]

1. I wish the State of CA would be in charge of Public utilities

[rampartc]

2. my current utility is an investor owned corporation

but it once was a municipal owned public service. privatization was supposed to be so wonderful, but prices went up and service is when they feel like it. the city used to trim trees around the power lines, now those trees are not trimmed until the line goes down.

another form is the consumer owned cooperative. i had that at my last house. i reallu like that.

[oldsoftie]

5. The Co-Op is what we've got here too

[rampartc]

6. if they want to change, you have a vote

don't let them.

[oldsoftie]

9. I doubt they'd try to change; everyone LOVES them. their annual meeting is like a party.

Especially with the old folks. They will go and sit for HOURS to get the freebies the EMC gives out. And that free lunch

[rampartc]

10. yea, i kinda miss that

and when they were ptofitable they would take it iff the bills.

[oldsoftie]

11. We do get a credit every year, depending on how long youve been a member

[KY_EnviroGuy]

3. We'll see more of this in time.

Especially when rising sea levels flood city storm sewers, water systems are polluted with salt water, and underground electrical systems are flooded on our coasts. These will all be going bankrupt and/or begging for federal rescue.

[oldsoftie]

4. Wow

[yaesu]

7. Erin Brockovich is on one of the teams suing the utility. nt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

8. Sounds like a fakeruptcy to me.

File for "bankruptcy" to dump your liabilities, then continue business as usual. GM did that a few years ago. It seems like a form of fraud.